Pre-alpha (MC-1) mercruiser 165 not turning over

[porchlight]

Hello all,

I've been working on my mercruiser for a few months now and I finally made some headway. Made a triumphant post about it but it turns out I spoke too soon! Now I'm back to having different issues, so I'm back to a new post about what's going on


Last issue was turning the key and getting a big click... ended up being the big solenoid. Got that figured out and got it to turn over, and I figured things were good... but no such luck. Shortly after, I was back to getting ZERO sound when turning the key. I traced that to some dirty contacts on my other solenoid, and cleaned them, and how I'm definitely getting juice to my starter motor. When I turn the key, I hear it zipping along. But the actual engine won't turn over!

One thing that was mentioned to me in my last post was insight from Bondo who noted that:

"The solenoid does 2 things at once... Not only does it pass power to the starter, it also shoves the bendix drive into the flywheel to turn the motor over"

So, I feel like this must be a good place to start. The sounds I'm getting definitely make me think that the bendix drive isn't engaging. Unfortunately, I don't know much about these drives. So I have a few questions so I can narrow down my search:

1) Which solenoid is the bendix drive connected to? I understand that I have two solenoids–a smaller one, and a larger one that's connected to the starter motor. Is it the smaller one or the larger one? I wonder if it's just an issue of dirty connections.

2) Is there any way to manually engage this drive so I can test things out?

Thank you!!

 

[nola mike]

I assume that you're talking about the 4 cylinder/3.7L 165. The bendix isn't connected to the solenoid, it's in the starter. When the starter turns, the bendix is the part with the gear that engages the motor. It actually will pop out from the starter, engage the ring gear, and then pop back when you let go of the key. You should be able to see it moving. That does sound like the problem. Try whacking your starter with a hammer. Otherwise it's new starter time.

 

[Bondo]

1)

Ayuh,..... Pull the starter,.......

The solenoid on the starter mechanically thrusts the bendix out,.....

2) Is there any way to manually engage this drive so I can test things out?

Pull the end of the lower shift cable off the shift plate, 'n push the inner cable in, or pull it out,....

 

[Bt Doctur]

Unless you tell us I`m assuming its the gm inline 6 pull the starter to examine it and no you cannot MANUALLY engage the starter.The starters solenoid energizes and pull the bendix into the flywheel. pull the starer and manually jump the contacts
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=howq+to+test+a+starter#kpvalbx=1

 

[Bondo]

Unless you tell us I`m assuming

Ayuh,...... Color Me Confused,.......

 

[nola mike]

Ayuh,..... Pull the starter,.......

The solenoid on the starter mechanically thrusts the bendix out,.....

Whoops, I was talking about the slave solenoid, which is what made me think that he had the 470...Didn't think that was there on the I6.

 

[achris]

It sounds like the problem with your Mercruiser 165 in-line 6, with an MC-1 drive is the bendix (on the end of the starter motor) may have a damaged clutch and although engaging, is slipping, or the solenoid (mounted on top of the starter motor) isn't pulling it in far enough to engage, or some teeth have gone from the bendix or the flywheel. In any of the above cases, just pull the starter motor out (it's EXACTLY the same as a car starter to remove) and service accordingly.

If you need to replace the starter motor, it is NOT an automotive unit. They may look the same, but a MARINE starter won't have the boat going :boom:

Chris..........

 

[porchlight]

Thanks all. Will pull the starter and see what's going on! I didn't realize that the bendix drive movement happened inside the starter. I was picturing a system where the solenoid just distributed power to somewhere else and then there was another drive elsewhere that went into the flywheel. Makes much more sense now!

Thank you